The Manager's Pocket Guide to Corporate Culture Change

Step B.Identify feelings and beliefs

•  What it means:

— Labeling the experience

• How it works:

— Acknowledge feelings

— Help people make positive choices on the feelings

The Idea

Identifying how a person feels requires the ability to label the inner experience in relation to what’s happening.

Most events that create a demand for change bring about strong feelings.  A death in the family may call forth uncontrollable feelings of grief, while a change in work responsibilities may bring out feelings of excitement and/or fear.  If we don’t experience these feelings, acknowledge them and utilize them, the repressed feelings will prevent us from making necessary changes.  This repression may even cause us to act irrationally or develop physical ...